Rotary mechanical seal



y 1966 D. G. JELATIS ETAL 3,

ROTARY MECHANICAL SEAL Original Filed March 27, 1961 i v/ 50 a3 52 34- K I [-16.2 T 12 w 4 53 24 V zzvmvrons DEMETRIUS G. JELAT/S 43 28 ROBERT/4. OLSEN LESTER Ml. HAAKER 2 WfZLLMtM United States Patent 3,260,530 ROTARY MECHANICAL SEAL Demetrius G. Jelatis, Red Wing, Minn, Robert A. Olsen,

This is a division of application Serial No. 98,372 filed March 27, 1961, now Patent No. 3,164,267 granted January 5, 1965.

This invention relates to rotary mechanical seal means adapted to transmit rotary motion between differing environments separated by a tight sealed protective barrier.

The rotary mechanical seal of the present invention is adapted for use, for example, in the transmission of rotary motion through the Walls of high level alpha-gamma hot cells, cells requiring complete atmosphere control for handling pyrophoric or otherwise atmosphere sensitive materials, cells handling highly toxic gaseous or air borne particulate materials under circumstances involving risk of dissemination by explosion or other accident, or similar installations. The mechanical seals are especially adapted for use in remote control master-slave manipulators in installations where it is desirable or imperative that the operator be in an environment completely sealed from the environment in which the slave arm of the manipulator functions. Such a manipulator is described and claimed in our copending application Serial No. 98,372 filed March 27, 1961, of which this application is a division.

The rotary mechanical seals may be pressurized with gas to serve as a lock permitting continuous monitoring of seal integrity. In the event of seal failure any resulting leak will only allow the innocuous pressurizing gas to escape while avoiding likelihood of transfer of hazardous material.

The rotary mechanical seal according to the present invention is illustrated in the accompanying drawings in which like numerals refer to corresponding parts and in which:

FIGURE 1 is an enlarged vertical elevation, in section, showing'one exemplary rotary motion seal package or transfer unit; and

FIGURE 2 is a vertical section showing a modified form of rotary seal construction.

Referring now to FIGURE 1 there is shown in detail a double rotary seal transfer assembly mounted in a barrier wall. The rotary mechanical seal indicated generally at is in the form of a cylindrical tubular housing 11 having an annular outwardly extending flange or integral collar 12 located intermediate of its ends. The housing 11 extends through the opening 13 in the top surface of a barrier wall 14 with flange or collar 12 resting upon an inwardly extending flange15 in the opening 13 to support the housing.

A gas tight gasket is interposed between the mating surfaces of the flanges 12 and 15 to prevent the passage of noxious substances from one side of barrier wall 14 to the other through the seal. The upper face of inwardly extending flange 15 is provided with an annular groove 16. This groove communicates through port 17 with gas tube 18 which is connected to a source of monitoring gas under pressure. The bottom face of outwardly extending flange 12 is provided with a corresponding annular groove 19. A channel 20 extends through the cylindrical housing wall to communicate the interior of the housing with the groove 19. An opening 21 in the gasket 22 permits the annular grooves 16 and 19 to communicate for gas flow.

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The housing 11 is held tightly in place in the opening in the barrier plate by means of a nut 23.

The bottom end of cylindrical housing 11 is provided with an inwardly extending annular flange 24. A seal ring 25, formed of steel or other suitable material, is supported within the housing on the shoulder formed by the flange. A gas tight gasket 26 is interposed between the seal ring and flange. A vertical shaft 27 extends through and beyond the ends of the housing 11. The shaft 27 is journaled for rotation on the iongitudinal axis of the housing in a ring ball bearing 28 mounted Within the inwardly extending flange 24. An inner cylindrical tube 29 is disposed within the housing 11. One end of the inner tube 29 bears against the top surface of the seal ring 25. A second or top seal ring 30 is supported within the housing 11 by the top end edge of inner ring 29. The upper end of shaft 27 is journaled in a ring ball bearing 31 supported in a retaining ring 32 which bears against the top surface of seal ring 30. A gas tight gasket 33 is interposed between the retaining ring and seal ring. A threaded collar 34 maintains constant pressure upon the elements within the transfer package housing in order to maintain the integrity of the gasketed seals.

A dis-c 35 is secured to shaft 27 intermediate of its ends within the housing 11 to rotate with the shaft. A first metal bellows 36 is secured to the periphery of disc 35 with a gas tight connection. The opposite end of bellows 36 carries a retaining ring 37 in which is supported a carbon seal ring 38 which bears against the lapped top surface of seal ring 25 to form a rotary gas tight seal. A further bellows 39 is secured with a gas tight connect-ion to the upper periphery of disc 35. The opposite end of bellows 39 carries a retaining ring 40 which supports a carbon seal ring 41 whose flat lapped surface bears against the flat lapped lower surface of seal ring 30 to form a gas tight rotary seal. It will be noted that upon rotation of shaft 27 the bellows and the carbon seal rings carried by them will rotate with respect to the stationary seal rings within the transfer assembly housing. Other resilient mounting means may be substituted for the bellows to support one of the seal rings.

The integrity of the seals may be constantly monitored by means of gas under pressure introduced through tubing 18 and port 17 to the annular groove 16 in the supporting flange for the rotary seal housing. The pressurized gas may pass through port 21 in gasket 22 to annular groove 19 in the lower surface of the flange 12 by which the rotary seal housing is supported. The gas then passes through port 20 to the interior of the rotary seal housing and through port 42 in the inner housing tube 29 to the chambers surrounding the bellows. Escape of gas is prevented by gaskets 22, 26 and 33 and the two rotary seals formed between the carbon seal rings 38 and 41 and seal rings 25 and 30, respectively. So long as the source of gas pressure 55 on the monitoring gas remains substantially constant as observed on a gas pressure gauge 56, shown schematically in FIGURE 1, the operator may be confident of the integrity of the gas seals. A substantial flow of the monitoring gas denotes the failure of one of the seals. It will be observed, however, that even in the event of the failure of a seal, the operator is in no danger of contamination by any noxious substance from the opposite side of the barrier wall because the flow of the escaping monitoring gas is outward from the rotary seal assembly and effectively prevents migration of any noxious substance through the rotary seal assembly.

The lowermost end of shaft 27 is fitted with a retaining ring 43 and a gear or pulley or other rotary motion transmission or coupling element may be keyed by pin 44 for rotation with the shaft.

The upper end of shaft 27 is provided with a retaining ring 45 and a gear or pulley or other rotary motion transmission or coupling element may be keyed by pin 46 for rotation with the shaft.

In FIGURE 2 there is shown an alternative form of rotary seal construction. The structure of the housing, shaft, bearings, etc., are the same as already described with reference to FIGURE 1. In the modified form of rotary seal structure a ring 47 is soldered or welded or otherwise secured to shaft 27 intermediate of its ends with a gas tight connection. In order to permit monitoring of the solder or weld seal the shaft 27 is undercut .at 48 and a gas port 49 is provided in ring 47. The opposite faces of the seal ring 47 are lapped to a fine finish. A bellows 50 is attached with a gas tight connection to a ring 51 which is sealed in the housing by virtue of the pressure of inner tube 29 hearing against gasket 26 and internal shoulder 24 of the housing. The opposite end of bellows 50 carries a retaining ring 52 in which is supported a carbon seal ring 53. The lapped surface of the carbon ring 53 remains stationary while the bottom lapped surface of seal ring 47 which it engages is rotated. The identical bellows structure is duplicated in the upper portion of the transfer assembly housing. Instead of the bellows as shown, equivalent resilient mounting means may be used to support one of the seal rings.

In this modified form of construction, the rotary seal surfaces are at the interface between the opposite surfaces of seal ring 47 and the carbon seal rings 53, but the carbon seal rings remain stationary while the seal ring 47, formed of steel or other suitable material, is rotated. The modified form of package may be subjected to gas under pressure to monitor the integrity of the seal, asheretofore described.

By means of use of the present invention, mechanical rotary motions are transferred mechanically through a sealed barrier in order to shield and protect one side of the barrier from any harmful effects of the environment of the other side. The integrity of the mechanical seals may be monitored at all times by means of gas under pressure. The fact of maintenance of the desired tight seal can be continuously observed by appropriate metering and alarm instrumentation between the gas pressure source and the seals. In the event of seal failure, not only may this fact be made immediately apparent, but the flow of gas in each instance is outward from the inside of the seal into the space on one side of the barrier wall or the other. There is no opportunity for flow through the seal mechanism of contaminating substances from one side of the barrier Wall to the other.

It is apparent that many modifications and variations of this invention as hereinbefore set forth may be made without departing from the spirit and scope thereof. The specific embodiments described are given by way of example only and the invention is limited only by the terms of the appended claims.

We claim:

1. A rotary mechanical seal for permitting the transmission of rotary motion through a barrier wall while preventing the transmission of radioactive and similar dangerous substances, which seal comprises (A) a housing having a chamber and a single passage means open to said chamber,

(B) a shaft projected through said chamber and journalled in the housing for rotation relative to the housing,

(C) at least two pair of lapped dry mating seal ring surfaces enclosed within the housing chamber,

(i) one of each of said pairs of lapped dry seal ring surfaces being integral with first seal rings surrounding the shaft and resiliently supported for movement relative thereto in a longitudinal direction along the axis of the shaft, said first seal rings having inside diameters substantially larger than the diameter of said shaft whereby said first seal rings have limited lateral movement with respect to the adjacent mating seal ring surfaces,

(a) the sole means for resiliently supporting said longitudinally first seal rings being a thin flexible annular gastight barrier wall means surrounding said shaft and secured in gastight relationship to said first seal rings,

(ii) the other of each of said pairs of lapped dry mating seal ring surfaces being integral with second gas impervious seal rings surrounding the shaft and fixed against movement relative to the housing in a direction along the longitudinal axis of the shaft,

(D) means for rotating one of the seal rings with the shaft relative to the other mating seal rings,

(E) means connected to said passage means for introducing gas confined under pressure into said housing chamber about said gastight barrier wall means, and

(F) means for monitoring the gas under pressure for indicating the integrity of the seals between said mating seal ring surfaces.

2. The rotary mechanical seal defined in claim 1 wherein said means for rotating one of the seal rings with the shaft comprises disc means secured in gastight relationship to said barrier wall means.

3. The rotary mechanical seal defined in claim 1 wherein said means for rotating one of the seal rings with the shaft comprises means for securing the second seal rings to the shaft.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,802,813 4/ 1931 Greenwald 277-61 2,313,169 3/1943 Penick et al. 7340.5 X 2,853,020 9/1958 Hollinger et al. 277l5 X 3,005,518 10/1961 Jassniker 277--15 X 3,074,728 1/ 1963 Freed 2773 FOREIGN PATENTS 685,282 12/1952 Great Britain.

SAMUEL ROTHBERG, Primary Examiner. EDWARD V. BENHAM, LEWIS J. LENNY, Examiners. L. RANEY, Assistant Examiner. 

1. A ROTARY MECHANICAL SEAL FOR PERMITTING THE TRANSMISSION OF ROTARY MOTION THROUGH A BARRIER WALL WHILE PREVENTING THE TRANSMISSION OF RADIO-ACTIVE AND SIMILAR DANGEROUS SUBSTANCES, WHICH SEAL COMPRISES (A) A HOUSING HAVING A CHAMBER AND A SINGLE PASSAGE MEANS OPEN TO SAID CHAMBER, (B) A SHAFT PROJECTED THROUGH SAID CHAMBER AND JOURNALLED IN THE HOUSING FOR ROTATION RELATIVE TO THE HOUSING, (C) AT LEAST TWO PAIR OF LAPPED DRY MATING SEAL RING SURFACES ENCLOSED WITHIN THE HOUSING CHAMBER, (I) ONE OF EACH OF SAID PAIRS OF LAPPED DRY SEAL RING SURFACES BEING INTEGRAL WITH FIRST SEAL RINGS SURROUNDING THE SHAFT AND RESILIENTLY SUPPORTED FOR MOVEMENT RELATIVE THERETO IN A LONGITUDINAL DIRECTION ALONG THE AXIS OF THE SHAFT, SAID FIRST SEAL RINGS HAVING INSIDE DIAMETERS SUBSTANTIALLY LARGER THAN THE DIAMETER OF SAID SHAFT WHEREBY SAID FIRST SEAL RINGS HAVE LIMITED LATERAL MOVEMENT WITH RESPECT TO THE ADJACENT MATING SEAL RING SURFACES, (A) THE SOLE MEANS FOR RESILIENTLY SUPPORTING SAID LONGITUDINALLY FIRST SEAL RINGS BEING A THIN FLEXIBLE ANNULAR GASTIGHT BARRIER WALL MEANS SURROUNDING SAID SHAFT AND SECURED IN GASTIGHT RELATIONSHIP TO SAID FIRST SEAL RINGS, (II) THE OTHER OF EACH OF SAID PAIRS OF LAPPED DRY MATING SEAL RING SURFACES BEING INTEGRAL WITH SECOND GAS IMPERVIOUS SEAL RINGS SURROUNDING THE SHAFT AND FIXED AGAINST MOVEMENT RELATIVE TO THE HOUSING IN A DIRECTION ALONG THE LONGITUDINAL AXIS OF THE SHAFT, (D) MEANS FOR ROTATING ONE OF THE SEAL RINGS WITH THE SHAFT RELATIVE TO THE OTHER MATING SEAL RINGS, (E) MEANS CONNECTED TO SAID PASSAGE MEANS FOR INTRODUCING GAS CONFINED UNDER PRESSURE INTO SAID HOUSING CHAMBER ABOUT SAID GASTIGHT BARRIER WALL MEANS, AND (F) MEANS FOR MONITORING THE GAS UNDER PRESSURE FOR INDICATING THE INTEGRITY OF THE SEALS BETWEEN SAID MATING SEAL RING SURFACES. 